Tourism business statistics [2007-2024]: Analyze market data and trends

In 2019 (before the pandemic), the tourism industry accounted for $1.4 trillion in global spending. While 2022 spending remains slow due to the post-pandemic recovery ($1.03 trillion), Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) predicts business travel spending will exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2024 and continue to increase to $1.8 trillion in 2027.

With so much money being spent, the business travel market is a significant economic driver. Corporate travel not only pumps money into the tourism industry and local economy, but also helps improve productivity and profits. Even in a world of Zoom and remote work, the need for business travel isn’t going away anytime soon.

It shows that companies set aside a significant amount of their budget for corporate travel spending. Clearly, there is an expected return on investment when companies are willing to spend, especially since the average business trip is often more expensive than a leisure trip.

According to ACCOR tourism business report, Business professionals expect 25% more revenue to be generated from the move to collaborate face-to-face via virtual meetings.

It’s important to understand how much money is spent on business travel, where that money goes, and when companies decide business travel is worth it.

Below are key travel business spending statistics to understand the economic impact of the business travel industry.

Business travel spending by country

Global business travel spending is highly concentrated in a few countries with industrial economies, with China and the United States far ahead of the rest of the world.

Below are the top 15 countries for spending on business travel as reported by Business tourism index outlook for 2023 from GBTA.

It’s no surprise that, with a few exceptions, these countries also rank highest in terms of GDP. The interesting way, Russia is the only country in the top 10 in terms of GDP that does not appear on this list.

Almost all business travelers travel within or between these 15 countries.

The rest of the world combine adding just $207 billion to total global business tourism spending. As with many other figures, this shows the extent to which the world’s economic activity and wealth is concentrated in a few regions. These 15 countries account for only about half of the global population but account for 85% of global business travel spending.

List of business travel expenses

Business travel can be broken down into spending categories to see where companies are spending the most money. The chart below shows total 2022 spending for the following five categories GBTA.

It’s easy to assume that airfare will be the top expense for business travel. In fact, it’s only third on the list after accommodation and meals. Accommodation is by far the largest expense on corporate travel, accounting for more than double the amount of any other category.

Business travel spending versus leisure travel spending

While business travel is a big industry, leisure travel is even bigger. The table below shows total travel spending divided between business travel and leisure travel by Statistical staff.

Medium, only 15.2% of travel spending comes from business travel. 84.8% is from leisure travel.

However, that analysis is not consistent across all tourism industries. Hospitality, dining, and tourism operations typically make more money from tourists, but many airlines actually make a larger percentage of their revenue from business travelers.

Based on invest, only 12% of airline passengers are businessmen. However, Because business travelers pay higher prices, more frequently book last-minute tickets, and are more likely to fly first class, they can account for up to 75% of airline profits.

While many travelers try to save as much money on airfare as possible, companies often tend to spend more to upgrade comfort when traveling for business.

Word research business travellers found that 33% of international business travel flights were in premium class and 13% of domestic business travel flights were in premium class.

While leisure travel is significantly larger, business travel spending remains a significant part of the tourism industry.